Proverbs 24:28  “Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.”

What do you call a person who doesn’t like Santa Claus? Claus-trophobic. That message is on a business marquee on my way to work. It’s true though, I don’t like Santa Claus. Used to however, a lot. Even prayed to him I think, to clear up my year of bad works and get some good loot for Christmas. I even saw him and his reindeer streaking across the sky (airplane) one Christmas Eve when I was young. I wrote letters to him, sat on his lap at the mall, and have even cleaned up a plate of cookie crumbs and his dirty milk glass. (He’s lazy). I was convinced  one night that I heard the reindeer land on my roof. (Although the pitch was at a 45°
angle?!) This is some serious belief.

     I’m not sure exactly how it began to unravel but the case for Santa soon went cold. I believe I had found some presents before Christmas wrapped and labeled “from Santa” as if he had sent them ahead of their delivery date. The problem was they were in my mother’s handwriting. Maybe she was subcontracting for him over the holidays. Maybe he had a huge workload that year. Maybe I’d been lied to for all these years.

     I know, I know, lighten up, right?  I might consider sweeping Santa under the tree and forgetting about the whole thing but I can’t. I have kids now.There is public pressure to play the Santa game. It is a little unnerving when people bend down and say to my children, “What’s Santa going to bring you this year? Have you been a good boy?” When I tell them my kids don’t believe in Santa I get a look like I’m some sort of weirdo. Has it occurred to anyone that believing a “jolly” man in a silly suit is going to magically squeeze down my 4″ chimney flue, leave a bunch of presents under the tree, eat cookies and milk, and then head back up the chimney where a team of reindeer await (one with a glowing red nose) to whisk him to the next house is a strange belief?  Who’s the weirdo? I know it’s not me!

     Here’s the problem. It’s a lie. I don’t lie to my children. The tooth fairy doesn’t come and leave money, there are no such thing as aliens, our ancestors were not apes, and no, Santa does not exist. A child is so impressionable, I can’t imagine having to “come clean” one day and say that Dad lied to them. I was not so happy when the magic dust settled and Santa was revealed as a fraud. As a child I really wanted to believe. What else wasn’t true? The story of Jesus?

     Another problem is that Santa had all sorts of powers. Almost God-like. Remember the song? “He knows if you are sleeping, he knows if you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake!” Santa the all-knowing, all-powerful judge of the children. I don’t like it one bit.

     So what do I do with my anti-Santa stance? I share it. I give plenty of room to non-Christians to perpetuate the Santa story. I know it is a very strong worldly tradition and won’t be going away anytime soon. I personally don’t participate and my kids don’t sit on his lap at the mall or write letters to him. What I don’t understand however are the Christians that play all the reindeer games that go along with this. When you encourage your tender children to believe in something, you need to do so very carefully. We are to point our kids towards Jesus Christ the Savior, not Santa Claus the pretender. Our kids live in a fog of deceit with all the fake things adults tell them. It’s no wonder they’re not turning out right.

     We need to speak the truth about all things, always to our children. We need them to trust us in all matters of living, so someday they will trust the Savior. If they are hurt by a cute story (lie) that didn’t stand the test of time, they might not trust the things that are truly profitable for their souls. When we stand before the Lord to give an account, prayerfully our children will be standing with us.

     Have a Merry Christmas! And don’t be afraid to say that!

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 Deuteronomy 6:6-7  “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,and when thou risest up.”

     It is amazing to me that Christianity as a group has not self-imploded. It can only be by God’s grace that the miracle of the church has remained for these two thousand or so years. As someone has once said we’re the only army that shoots it’s wounded. That being said, I chose a topic that is very important as it pertains to the training of our young ones spiritually and academically. It is a subject that sometimes divides Christians in the local church.

     As many of you are aware there are so many different groups of Christians, even within the same local church. (If I was still in high school I would call them cliques.) This is normal for we spend time with those that are like us. Each church has it’s different levels of sanctification as well, as each Christian is at a different place in their walk with the Lord. There are different philosophies when it comes to doing various life activities, one being the education of children.

     My personal  philosophy of education is this…no public school, period. I wrote about it in my post titled, School Daze if you want to know why. This is my personal philosophy and I would encourage anyone considering public school for their child to RE-consider! That leaves me with two alternatives…homeschool my kids or send them to Christian school. Which is better?

     The answer is…it depends. There are many variables involved in making this decision. I’ve done both homeschool and Christian school. As with any other choice in life there are pros and cons. Homeschooling allows a family to be closer. In this day and age, time is so precious. Our kids are growing up so fast. One way to enjoy them more is to have them around more. Homeschooling can be a very fulfilling experience for both parent and student alike. It can be too stressful as well.

     A good Christian school will involve your kids not only in academics, but various extra-curricular activities as well. I thoroughly enjoy seeing my kids in the Christmas cantata. I love watching them dress up as an American hero around Thanksgiving. I enjoy the many talents and gifts a school staff has to offer my child. I don’t like it if I see worldliness rearing it’s ugly head in the school however. With a school you will always have to fight that since each child comes from a family that may or may not be walking with the Lord. Some families send their kids to Christian school hoping that it can “fix” their children. Most of these problems stem from the home.

     The bottom line is this. Homeschooling can be a wonderful, fulfilling experience for both child and parent. The same goes for Christian school. There is no “better” as it becomes a personal decision based on preferences, circumstances, and goals. If we keep  the above verse from Deuteronomy in mind as we make our schooling decisions, we will keep the Lord in mind as well. We ought to choose wisely through prayer, not pressure, the best option to fulfill the Lord’s will for our children.